Defaulters to have a taxing time from February

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has warned that February onwards, every property tax defaulter will be targeted till his/her debts are cleared. The civic body aims to collect Rs 1,250 crore as taxes this financial year.

The GHMC will form a special tax wing to pursue Paryataka Bhavan, which is under the AP Tourism Department, as it owes Rs 2 crore in taxes, which is pending for a long time. So far, the financial wing has managed to collect Rs 25 lakh from Paryataka Bhavan.

As on January 27, the GHMC had collected property tax amounting to Rs 538.67 crore, which is Rs 70 crore more than last year on the same day. It aims to reach the target of Rs 1,000 crore and has also fixed another target of Rs 1,250 crore for this financial year .

“Since January was packed with holidays, the municipal authorities were not able to reach their targets. However, all non-payers will be chased from February onwards. A special meeting on tax collection will be held in the first week of February,” the GHMC commissioner said.

Road Repair works

The GHMC commissioner said that half of the files had been sanctioned regarding the Rs 50-lakh worth of road repair works that had to be taken up in 150 corporators’ divisions. He added that the remaining would be cleared in a day.

The files will be under tender process and all road maintenance works in 150 divisions will be grounded in 15 days, he said.

The Municipal Corporation, with a budget of Rs 49 crore, will also begin fencing of 385 open spaces covering 70 km within its jurisdiction. The GHMC has 1,385 open spaces and 1,000 have already been fenced.

The civic body is encouraging citizens and colony welfare organizations to bring to its notice open spaces in their localities. One can also call on the toll free number 155304.